Following Malik Thiaw‘s move from AC Milan to Newcastle United for a considerable fee that reaches €40m, Milan took almost no time in finalising their deal with a very promising defender to replace Thiaw and become an important player in I Rossoneri‘s defensive line.
They reached an agreement with Genoa to buy their defender Koni De Winter for up to €20m.
The extra €20m Milan still have from the Thiaw sale will most likely be invested in further signings, especially an additional defender or striker, given that Milan still lack a defender in their squad.
This is especially true if they plan to rely on a back-three formation throughout the season.
According to Massimiliano Allegri’s pre-season friendlies, Milan are expected to continue playing with the same back-three defensive organisation, with possible changes in midfield and attack.
Therefore, having an additional defender within the squad would be necessary.
Furthermore, numerous critics argued that Milan could have gone for the likes of Fiorentina’s Pietro Comuzzo or Giovanni Leoni, who had joined Liverpool.
It was also suggested that both players might be better-suited for Milan than De Winter.
However, ironically enough, De Winter can become even more valuable than the two suggested players.
De Winter has proven himself at Genoa and Empoli and has gained a lot of experience in Serie A already, as opposed to the two players who have played less in Serie A and are less experienced.
De Winter is certainly not the best defender in the world at the moment.
However, his Serie A record already favours him over many other choices, given that he has been good enough, especially last season with Genoa, playing regularly and being defensively solid on most occasions.
In this player analysis and scout report on the newly signed De Winter, we will examine his profile thoroughly, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, and identifying how Allegri can make him a reliable defender within Milan’s back-three system.
The analysis will, therefore, illuminate his defensive actions and goalscoring attributes, focusing on his potential positions and roles at Milan.
Koni De Winter Profile, Positions & Roles
It is important to note that De Winter has already played under Allegri’s management at Juventus, and it is even more correct to say that Allegri gave him his professional debut at Juventus.
Therefore, Allegri already believes in the player’s abilities and will most probably work with him to make him even more solid defensively.
De Winter started his career in Belgium with Lierse SK and then Zulte Waregem within their youth sectors before making the big move to Juventus U17 and playing with their U19, U23, and Next Gen teams.
Although he was called up to the first team and played in a few games, especially during the 2021/2022 season, it was preferred to loan him out to gain more experience and become more reliable as a defender.
His time at Empoli helped him improve and get some considerable playing time, with 14 Serie A participations.
This attracted Genoa’s interest, and he eventually signed a contract with them in August 2023 for a loan with an obligation to buy.
De Winter was consistent with Genoa during the two seasons he spent with them, given that he participated in 31 games during his first season and in 26 games last season, which confirms that De Winter has already had two full seasons of experience in Serie A.
De Winter was very useful to Genoa, especially from a defensive perspective.
He played as a right centre-back in formations with back-three defensive lines, as a “libero” or a central centre-back within the same formation, and as a right-back in formations with four defenders.
This makes De Winter very suitable for Milan, mainly because he proposes many solutions in Milan’s defence, is capable of playing in back-three or back-four defensive lines, and has the experience needed in every position mentioned.
Koni De Winter Positions
The fact that he can also play as a right-back and that he is already experienced in that position gives an extra solution to Allegri in case he wants to secure the result with a more defensive right-back instead of Zachary Athekame, Álex Jiménez or Alexis Saelemaekers.
De Winter can also be used in that position in case Milan play against teams with very dangerous left wingers, as that would push Allegri to rely on a more powerful right-back in defensive duels and would therefore lean to opting for De Winter.
Despite that, it is expected that De Winter would most likely be more used as a centre-back, mainly because there is a lack of centre-backs within the team as opposed to the right-back role.
Therefore, it is expected that we will see De Winter participate more in his main position as a centre-back rather than as a right-back.
The doubt will be whether he will be used as a right centre-back or as a central centre-back.
Based on the team’s current defenders and especially on the potential new defensive signing, De Winter is more adapted to the right centre-back role because it requires less playmaking and building up from the back, as the libero needs to be more involved in ball circulation and needs to be the defender with the best passing skills within the team.
De Winter is good enough with his feet and can be relied on for passing and playing under pressure inside the team’s own half; however, he is not the best choice for the central centre-back role simply because he is not yet outstanding in terms of long passing and accurate progressive passing.
But considering that Milan actually does not have many better options for that role, it would be possible for Allegri to alternate between Matteo Gabbia and De Winter for the libero position, given that both players can meet the position’s requirements.
That said, the most powerful line-up for Milan’s defence would be Strahinja Pavlović as a left centre-back, De Winter as a right centre-back, and Gabbia as a libero.
He has some advantage over De Winter for that role, thanks to his experience at Milan and the fact that he plays better with his feet and makes more correct decisions regarding passing.
In this case, De Winter would most likely become the first choice for the right centre-back spot, with Fikayo Tomori becoming the second option, whether for that position or for Gabbia.
When it comes to his possible roles within Milan’s system, De Winter can add a lot in terms of marking inside the team’s own third, guaranteeing more anticipation initiatives to the passes directed towards the strikers.
He is also a very dynamic defender who moves a lot and can be more efficient than Thiaw in this regard.
De Winter won 58.2% of the total aerial duels last season, while Thiaw won 58.5% in the same season, meaning that De Winter is not very different from Thiaw in this aspect.
On the other hand, Thiaw wins 68% of the defensive duels, and De Winter wins 68.3%, which proves that De Winter is not weaker than Thiaw when facing opponents, especially in one-on-one situations.
Although Leoni had better defensive duels won numbers last season (with an average reaching 72.6%), it is very important to consider the aerial duels aspect, in which De Winter has the advantage over Leoni, who averages 63% aerial duels won.
Another important factor that needs to be considered is that De Winter exploits his height efficiently, whether in intercepting passes, scoring headers, or making interventions, without relying heavily on sliding tackles but on his ability to reach the ball before his opponent.
De Winter is more agile and quicker than Thiaw, which makes him more decisive when making defensive interventions or when chasing a striker.
With an average of 3.7 interceptions per match last season, he is better than Thiaw, whose average reaches 3.66.
More importantly, De Winter’s decision-making inside his team’s third can be more useful to Milan than Thiaw’s; he avoids using sliding tackles when he knows he can intercept the ball without resorting to tackles.
In addition to his various defensive missions, De Winter proved with Genoa that he can be a decisive goalscorer, especially during set-pieces.
He jumps high and can score headers whenever he gets the chance to do so.
Thanks to his 1.91 m height and his ability to position himself well inside the box and avoid marking, De Winter can become much more effective than Thiaw in this regard, knowing that De Winter has a greater tendency to aim at scoring with headers.
Koni De Winter Defensive Traits
Although he can sometimes commit marking mistakes and lack aggressive interventions, De Winter can be reliable in closing down opponents and applying tight marking on strikers inside the box.
The following picture of his defensive duel against Juventus’ Kenan Yıldız confirms that he still lacks maturity and quicker reflexes when dealing with dangerous players or explosive dribblers.
This is one of the aspects that Allegri will have to improve with De Winter to make him more crucial and more complicated to surpass, as winning or losing such defensive duels can be decisive to his career in the long run.
Koni De Winter Defensive Duels
In this action, De Winter tried to follow Yıldız without committing a foul initially and tried to block the shooting attempt of Yıldız before discovering that Yıldız was just using a fake shot to get past him.
As soon as Yıldız continued dribbling, De Winter got lost and was not able to keep up with his opponent’s pace.
That eventually resulted in conceding a goal that could have been avoided if De Winter had been quicker and more reactive following the initial fake shot.
That said, De Winter has made many crucial interventions in the past and against different opponents, whether thanks to excellent timing or sliding tackles when needed.
Koni De Winter Sliding Tackles
This picture highlights his ability to resort to sliding tackles with success without risking committing a foul inside the box, which consolidates the idea of knowing when and how to use sliding tackles.
Joining a team like Milan and with a head coach like Allegri means that De Winter will most likely be encouraged to attempt more sliding tackles, as he will be put in situations that require crucial interventions more often.
Therefore, one of his challenges at Milan will be maintaining the same level of intervention and timing in most, if not all, of his sliding tackles.
Koni De Winter Aerial Duels
One of De Winter’s best defensive traits is his ability in the air.
On average, he wins 4.05 aerial duels per match.
More importantly, being crucial in this regard and saving his team regularly from the danger of crosses means that De Winter will certainly represent a remarkable addition in this regard, as he will save Milan from being put in risky situations, especially during set-pieces.
Milan have been suffering from aerial duels during set-pieces throughout the last two seasons, conceding numerous goals due to poor marking in the air.
With the addition of a defender like De Winter, who knows how to position himself during these crosses and can win against any opponent in the air, Milan are expected to concede fewer goals from set-pieces this season.
This example showcases De Winter’s ability to clear the ball away using his headers even in difficult situations, as he had to orient his header backwards while jumping in the air to prevent it from reaching the opponent, saving his team from a concrete goalscoring opportunity.
Koni De Winter Goalscoring Ability
Goalscoring is one of the aspects that De Winter excels at and has considerable potential to further improve in order to become even more crucial when it comes to scoring important goals.
He uses his jumping abilities, height, and powerful headers to score goals against any opponent.
It is true that he has not scored many goals so far, but most of the goals he has scored highlight his talent in finishing, especially from set-pieces or crosses.
This can represent a considerable addition to Milan as the team lacks consistent and crucial goalscoring defenders, with Gabbia, Tomori, and Pavlović exploiting crosses occasionally but not regularly.
Koni De Winter Finishing
The following goal action is just an example of De Winter’s excellent headers’ finishing against AS Roma, and the context of this goal gives even further importance to De Winter’s abilities and personality.
He was able to advance and jump higher than his opponent at the final minute of the match, scoring a crucial equalising goal that showcases De Winter’s physical strength and winning mentality.
Conclusion
Koni De Winter represents a very suitable replacement to Thiaw if we consider the available options, especially if Milan plans to get someone with Serie A experience.
De Winter has the defensive abilities needed to perform well in Serie A, even though he needs to be more aggressive at times and make more crucial defensive interventions, especially against dangerous opponents.
Improving this aspect with the help of Allegri and working on his passing skills further to become more useful in the build-up from the back, especially under pressure, as well as in the playmaking process, would make De Winter even more reliable and efficient for Milan’s system.
